IRT Ninth Avenue Line explained

IRT Ninth Avenue Elevated
Other Name:West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway
West Side and Yonkers Patent Elevated Railway Company
Westside Patented Elevated Railway Company
Ninth Avenue El
Close: (South of 155th Street) (North of 155th Street)
Event1:1868
Event1label:Cable railway
Event2:February 14, 1870
Event2label:Regular Service
Event3:1903
Event3label:Electrification
Character:elevated railway
Tracks:2–3
Electrification:DC third rail
Map State:uncollapsed

The IRT Ninth Avenue Line, often called the Ninth Avenue Elevated or Ninth Avenue El,[1] was the first elevated railway in New York City. It opened in July 1868 as the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, as an experimental single-track cable-powered elevated railway from Battery Place, at the south end of Manhattan Island, northward up Greenwich Street to Cortlandt Street. By 1879 the line was extended to the Harlem River at 155th Street. It was electrified and taken over by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in 1903.

The main line ceased operation in June 1940,[2] [3] after it was replaced by the IND Eighth Avenue Line which had opened in 1932. The last section in use, over the Harlem River, was known as the Polo Grounds Shuttle. It closed in August 1958.[4] This portion used a now-removed swing bridge called the Putnam Bridge,[5] [6] and went through a still-extant tunnel with two partially underground stations.[7]

The line had the worst accident in the history of New York City elevated railways, on September 11, 1905, when a train derailed and fell to the street. There were 61 casualties.[8]

History

West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway

The predecessor of the Ninth Avenue Elevated was the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, which was built on Greenwich Street by Charles T. Harvey and ran from July 1, 1868, to 1870. The line used multiple one-mile-long (1.6 km-long) cable loops, driven by steam engines in cellars of buildings adjacent to the track. Each loop was started when a car neared it and stopped when it had passed. The cables were equipped with collars that the car connected to with "claws". As the claws could not be "slipped" the car was jerked each time it moved to the next cable. The system proved cumbersome, broke down several times and eventually the company ran out of money and the system was abandoned. The new owners replaced the cable cars with steam locomotives.

In 1885, the first demonstration of an electric traction engine in New York took place on the Ninth Avenue El.[9]

Extension

The Ninth Avenue Elevated was extended up Greenwich Street and Ninth Avenue by 1891. The Ninth Avenue El and several other lines of the Manhattan Railway Company were taken over with a 99-year lease by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company on April 1, 1903.[10] [11] The Ninth Avenue Elevated extended over above the street at "Suicide Curve", where the line made two 90-degree turns above 110th Street to travel from Columbus Avenue to Eighth Avenue.[12] On September 11, 1905, the worst accident in the history of New York's elevated railways took place at a curve at 53rd street, resulting in 13 deaths and 48 serious injuries.[13] The rebuilding project was extended all the way north to 116th St., creating Manhattan's first three-track elevated, although center-track express service did not begin until 1916.

The line began at South Ferry and ran along Greenwich Street from Battery Place to Gansevoort Street in lower Manhattan, Ninth Avenue in midtown (joining with the Sixth Avenue El at 53rd Street, continuing along Columbus Avenue in upper Manhattan between 59th Street and 110th, turning east on 110th and running north on Eighth Avenue (Central Park West and Frederick Douglass Boulevard) until the Harlem River.[14]

In January 1917, the installation of a third track was completed.[15] The third track allowed the IRT to begin running express trains on the line in July 1918, from 125th Street to 155th Street; trains began using the new express station at 145th Street for the first time.[16] At the same time, the line was extended to 162nd Street in the Bronx, and stations were opened at Sedgwick Avenue and Anderson–Jerome Avenues. In December 1921, Lexington Avenue–Jerome Avenue subway trains began running north of 167th Street at all times, replacing elevated trains, which ran to Woodlawn during rush hours, but terminated at 167th Street during non-rush hours.[17]

As of 1934, the following services were being operated:

Closing and Polo Grounds Shuttle

Most of the line was closed June 11, 1940, and dismantled, following the purchase of the IRT by the City of New York.[3] A small portion of the line north of 155th Street remained in service as the "Polo Grounds Shuttle".[18] [19] Service ended in August 1958 as a result of the departure of the New York Giants baseball team, which had relocated to San Francisco, and the ending of passenger service on the New York Central's Putnam Division.[20]

Station listing

From north to south, the stations were:

StationTracksOpening dateClosing dateTransfers and notes
Anderson–Jerome AvenuesExpressJuly 1, 1918August 31, 1958Still exists in ruins; continued north via the Jerome Avenue Line to 167th Street, and later to Woodlawn on January 2, 1919[21]
Sedgwick AvenueExpressJuly 1, 1918August 31, 1958Still exists in ruins; transfer point with NYC Putnam Division
155th StreetExpressDecember 1, 1879[22] August 31, 1958Built next to NYC Putnam Division southern terminus, former transfer point until Putnam Division service to Manhattan ended in 1918
151st StreetLocalNovember 15, 1917June 11, 1940
145th StreetExpressDecember 1, 1879June 11, 1940
140th StreetLocalSeptember 27, 1879June 11, 1940
135th StreetLocalSeptember 27, 1879June 11, 1940
130th StreetLocalSeptember 27, 1879June 11, 1940
125th StreetExpressSeptember 17, 1879June 11, 1940
116th StreetExpressSeptember 17, 1879June 11, 1940
110th StreetLocalJune 3, 1903June 11, 1940
104th StreetLocalJune 21, 1879June 11, 1940
99th StreetLocalJune 21, 1879June 11, 1940
93rd StreetLocalJune 21, 1879June 11, 1940
86th StreetLocalJune 21, 1879June 11, 1940
81st StreetLocalJune 9, 1879June 11, 1940
72nd StreetLocalJune 9, 1879June 11, 1940
66th StreetExpressJune 11, 1940
59th StreetLocalJune 9, 1879[23] June 11, 1940Transfer to Sixth Avenue Elevated
55th StreetLocalJanuary 18, 1876Before 1887
53rd StreetLocalJune 2, 1878Before 1887
50th StreetLocalJanuary 18, 1876June 11, 1940
42nd StreetLocalNovember 6, 1875June 11, 1940
34th StreetExpressJuly 30, 1873June 11, 1940
30th StreetLocalDecember 13, 1873June 11, 1940
29th StreetJuly 3, 18681873Original northern terminus
23rd StreetLocalOctober 21, 1873June 11, 1940
21st StreetLocalOctober 21, 1873Before 1887
14th StreetExpressJune 11, 1940
Little West 12th StreetLocalJune 17, 18721880?
Bethune StreetLocalNovember 5, 1875Before 1887
Christopher StreetExpressNovember 3, 1873June 11, 1940
Houston StreetLocalNovember 3, 1873June 11, 1940
Watts StreetLocalMay 6, 1872Before 1887
Desbrosses StreetExpressNovember 23, 1873June 11, 1940
Franklin StreetLocalJanuary 21, 1873June 11, 1940
Warren StreetExpressFebruary 14, 1870June 11, 1940
Barclay StreetLocalFebruary 14, 1870June 11, 1940
Dey StreetJuly 3, 1868[24] 1874Original southern terminus
Cortlandt StreetExpressMay 25, 1874June 11, 1940
Rector StreetLocalMay 25, 1874June 11, 1940
Morris StreetLocalAugust 15, 1872
April 15, 1877
March 19, 1873
September 27, 1879
Battery PlaceExpressJune 5, 1883[25] June 11, 1940Sixth Avenue Line
South FerryExpressnowrapApril 5, 1877nowrapJune 11, 1940 (9th Avenue)
December 22, 1950 (other services)
Second, Third and Sixth Avenue Lines; various ferries

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Remembering the 9th Avenue El. MTA.info. October 26, 2011. October 28, 2011. August 18, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140818132042/http://www.mta.info/news/2011/10/26/remembering-9th-avenue-el. dead.
  2. https://www.angelfire.com/fl/mainframeconsole/polo_grounds_shuttle/el9end.jpg Ninth Avenue Elevated Closure Poster
  3. News: New York Times. Two 'El' Lines End Transit Service. June 12, 1940. 27.
  4. Web site: imagejpg1_zpse1f8a458.jpg Photo by JavierMitty – Photobucket. Photobucket.
  5. Web site: Image 8282. November 27, 2007. June 14, 1958. nycsubway.org.
  6. Web site: Image 8296. November 27, 2007. nycsubway.org.
  7. Web site: When Is a Subway Not a Subway?. November 27, 2007. Walsh. Kevin. Forgotten NY. December 25, 1999 .
  8. Book: Shaw, Robert B. . Down Brakes: A History of Railroad Accidents, Safety Precautions and Operating Practices in the United States of America . P. R. Macmillan . 1961 . London . 2641112.
  9. Book: Sansone. Gene. P. Roess. Roger. 9783642304842. August 23, 2012. Springer Science & Business Media. 9783642304842.
  10. Web site: Continuing the Story of the 9th Avenue El. Feinman. Mark S.. On April 1, 1903, the entire Manhattan Elevated system was leased to the IRT Company for 999 years. Subway system construction was planned to connect with the Els at various points. By June 25, 1903, the last steam-powered elevated train was operated in passenger service on the 9th Ave El. . 2009-08-04.
  11. Book: Walker, James Blaine. Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864-1917. 1918. 182–186.
  12. Web site: History. Bloomingdale. The Ninth Avenue El. bloomingdalehistory.com. September 13, 2013. October 25, 2015.
  13. Robert C. Reed, The New York Elevated, South Brunswick, NJ and New York: Barnes, 1978,, p. 138.
  14. Book: The Red Book: New York. 1935. Interstate Map Co.. New York.
  15. Book: Senate, New York (State) Legislature. Documents of the Senate of the State of New York. 1917. en.
  16. News: Open New Subway To Regular Traffic — First Train On Seventh Avenue Line Carries Mayor And Other Officials — To Serve Lower West Side — Whitney Predicts An Awakening Of The District — New Extensions Of Elevated Railroad Service. October 25, 2015. New York Times. July 2, 1918. 11.
  17. Web site: An Improvement in Service for Passengers on the Jerome Avenue Line North of 167th Street. December 11, 1921. pudl.princeton.edu. Interborough Rapid Transit Company. September 19, 2016.
  18. Book: Norwood, Stephen . New York Sports: Glamour and Grit in the Empire City . University of Arkansas Press . Sport, Culture, and Society . 2018 . 978-1-61075-635-8 . 351.
  19. Book: Sansone, G. . New York Subways: An Illustrated History of New York City's Transit Cars . Johns Hopkins University Press . 2004 . 978-0-8018-7922-7 . December 18, 2023 . 43.
  20. Web site: Annual Report For The Year Ended June 30, 1959. October 1959. New York City Transit Authority. 15.
  21. Web site: The 9th Avenue Elevated-Polo Grounds Shuttle. nycsubway.org. 2012. July 3, 2014.
  22. Web site: "The two roads are in perfect accord" 1878-1879. https://web.archive.org/web/20161013210008/http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beach/chapter18.html. October 13, 2016. November 13, 2022. Joseph. Brennan.
  23. News: The Manhattan Company — Opening of the West Side to Eighty-first Street — The Sunday Trains. New York Times. 8. June 10, 1879. February 11, 2009.
  24. Book: Walker, James Blaine . Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864-1917 . Law Print. Company . 1918 .
  25. News: A Station at Battery Place. New York Times. 5. June 5, 1883. September 22, 2020.